This week our online class takes us to one of the earth’s most magical places — New Zealand!
The island nation we now know as New Zealand (known to the Maori as “Aotearoa”) was among the last large land masses in the world to be inhabited by humans. Polynesian first settled New Zealand in the late 13th century and within a couple centuries had developed a distinct “Maori” culture.
Today New Zealand is a modern nation that’s as closely connected to the West as it is rooted in Polynesian history and culture. While the relationship between European-descended New Zealanders and ethnic Maori is very complicated, and the nation’s volcanic foundation always presents the possibility of unexpected disruption, New Zealanders’ apparent combination of rugged individualism and relaxed humility (i.e. Edumnd Hillary, first Westerner to climb Mt. Everest, personified “the brave, self-deprecating New Zealander”) has so far enabled “Kiwis” to both engage the global economy and remain proud of their own complex culture.
